Army of Superheroes
by BaileyPoching
Summary: In the midst of the apocalypse, Batman rallies the troops and orchestrates Earth's defenses.


The Bat cave was eerily quiet, considering it was more than full of vigilantes and meta humans, hell there were even some regular humans there standing around the cave. Brainiac and Vandal Savage had struck a deal with the world's worst super villains, a deal that involved the newly entitled 'Legion of Doom' attacking cities all over the world. Batman had called an emergency meeting with all members of all of the Justice Leagues, the Justice Society, the Teen Titans, the Challengers of the Unknown and the J.L.A.'s covert black-ops team known as Young Justice. The heroes were separated into an audience, about a hundred sat in two blocks of seats, leaving a five foot wide aisle down the centre while others stood to the sides, leant on pillars or floated above the crowds.

I sat perched on a rock that protruded from the rocky walls and watched fixated on Batman with utter amazement. It was utterly bewilderingly brilliant that in the face of the apocalypse, the gods of the Watchtower turn to this one man in a bat costume. Batman stood on a stage in front of the house-sized screen of the Bat-computer with Dick Grayson, looking tired and dishevelled (and wearing a more heavily armoured Nightwing costume) stood by his side. Batman didn't need a microphone; once he stepped up onto the stage the entire cavern fell silent. He cleared his throat and began:

"You all know why you're here. Brainiac has analysed each and every one of you. He knows your strengths, your weaknesses and he knows just how to kill you in the worst imaginable way. I have hacked Brainiac's main computer and I've seen his plans. He has devised offensive strategies to take down each team. That's why we cannot fight in our usual teams. I have drafted different teams that will use their abilities to take down each villain in their respective cities. Aquaman: you will lead Batgirl, Metamorpho, Red Arrow and Raven to Star City, use your armies to guard the coast."

Aquaman stood silently and waited for his team to gather before leaving with a silent nod to Batman. Barb strode with her head up and her fists clenched her red hair flowing down her back, closely behind Roy who I could see breathing heavily, looking down onto an arrow he was inspecting in his hand. Rex walked like a boxer to a ring, cracking his neck and using his powers to shift his arm into different weapons until he settled on a large mallet in place of his hand. Raven floated quietly behind the group with her head down, her eyes hidden by the shadow of her hood. I watched them leave quietly and closed my eyes, praying they all came back alive. I turned back to Batman.

"Hal, I want you to take Red Robin, Starfire, Catwoman and Wildcat to Metropolis, and give Lex Luthor our best."

Green Lantern floated from his seat and cheered as he raised his fist and briefly illuminated the cave with emerald light of his ring. It was met with applause and cheers from the audience. Tim got up and walked over to Steph, and though I don't know what they were saying I was sure Tim didn't want to leave her. Steph was wearing her Spoiler costume, which I hadn't seen since I first met her. Her hood was pulled down and her blonde hair was discoloured in the huge lights that had been rigged to the cave ceiling. They hugged tightly and without turning back to her, Tim ran to Green Lantern's side at the entrance to the cave and pulled up his Red Robin cowl. Starfire was with Dick on stage. Even in the light of the Bat computer, Kori's hair was too fiery and bright to look at. After a very brief conversation they kissed and Dick smiled as she flew to stand with Tim and GL. Catwoman took her time walking from her seat as she held her head low; she seemed to carry the wait of the world on her shoulders. Wildcat got up walked up behind her and pushed her to the back of the crowd as he pompously stomped to join his new team. They exited the cave, Green Lantern leading them with his ring held in front of him. Attention was once again on Batman.

"Red Tornado, you're going to take Nightwing, Katana, Lois Lane and Beast Boy to Coast City."

At the mention of my name I flew down from the perch I was on and joined Nightwing on stage. He turned to me with a look more serious than I'd ever seen on his face and muttered

"Are you ready for this, Gar?" I shifted from my bird form to my human form and chuckled,

"Dick, if I wasn't ready I wouldn't be here." We ran to the back of the crowd to join Red Tornado and Katana. We turned around to see Lois Lane, AK 47 in hand, yelling at Superman in front of the stage.

"I'm not letting you risk your life like this!" he yelled. Lois stepped back in shock,

"Oh, so it's okay for you to risk your life every damn day!"

"That's not the sa-"

"Clark." Batman's voice boomed across the cave. "Miss Lane knew what she was doing when she signed up. She's just as entitled to protect this world as you are." Superman's eyes started glowing red slightly. He growled at Batman, "Then let me go with her. Leave the green monkey here and let me fight!"

I was suddenly very angry very quickly, "Hey!" I yelled, and my voice echoed through the cave. Dick held his hand out over my chest and something in his glove made it impossible for me to move it. Batman looked from me to Superman, "you know I can't send you out there. Brainiac has given each of his squadrons an entire arsenal of kryptonite weaponry. All they need is a piece of red kryptonite to turn our strongest player into theirs. You have to sit this one out." There was short pause. Batman considered for a moment and began, "I do have a job for you. If you really want to make yourself useful…" Superman stared at Batman, ready to take on the responsibility, "go make me a sandwich." The cave filled with low chuckles and guffaws, however Superman hung his head and left, muttering loudly about a 'stupid kryptonite ring'. Lois smiled and ran to meet us.

"What're we waiting for? Lets go kick some super villain ass!"

The team turned on its heels and began to run out of the cave. I turned to glance at Batman and could've sworn I saw him wink at me before reading off the next team. I shifted into a cheetah and burst through the waterfall entrance to the Bat cave. That's where we were ambushed. I suppose that's another story altogether, though.


End file.
